Expert: Ron Cercone - 2/12/2009

Question
vehicle accident deemed totaled, I find out by the adjuster the vehicle had been previously totaled.  I purchased the vehicle from a dealership and had no knowledge of this.  have paid insurance premiums and now I am getting an offer for 50% of acv.  can i get 50% of my premium returned is there anything else I can do about the settlement?

Answer
Hello Ellen,

I guess this might be a good reason to use www.carfax.com to get vehicle history.

In my 28 years, I have never heard of this. I think its just an excuse to do an easy sell on an already low ball valuation. Get the copy of the CCC or ADP report or whatever they used and look for a deduction for "diminished value".

Not sure I know why they are offering 50%, is that because it has "diminished value" because it was previously totaled?

In any case, "diminished value" because a car was previously totaled or was in an accident and got repaired is something that vehicle owners usually claim from insurers, not the other way around. And diminished value should not be over 10%. And insurers usually fight diminished value claims hard.

Ask them what the acv value would be if it were not previously totaled. Also, if the car has a "salvage title", now that will diminish the value more, but I don't know how much.

And check with your state Motor vehicles department, I think the dealer who sold you the car may have broken the law if they did not disclose that it was once a total loss.

You probably won't get any percentage refund of premium on liability coverage, but perhaps on the collision and comp part of the premium. But don't claim that unless they revalue the car as not having been totaled. Its a good argument you make and you may have to argue it in small claims court. But I would sue them for the full value of the car as opposed to the premium refund.

Aside from the diminished value, if you still think the car was undervalued on the acv, get the www.UClaim.com product entitled " TOTAL LOSS AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE CLAIM ADVICE AND HELP - FOR INSUREDS
Subtitle:  HOW TO NEGOTIATE WITH YOUR OWN INSURER". Good luck.